Category: Information Technology

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and PAF hospital Islamabad have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) enabling all the employees of FBR HQ and its field formations to avail discounted rates (25 to 30 percent) for the services provided by PAF Hospital Islamabad.

According to a circular issued by the FBR on Monday, the discounted rates are available to all the Employees and their dependants including their parents on a pure cash basis. The Federal Board of Revenue shall bear no financial liability and no employee shall claim any reimbursement of whatsoever nature on the basis of this Circular except normal reimbursement claims covered under the Guidelines contained in the Ministry of Health’s letter.

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The employees of FBR and its field formations can avail discounted rates by showing the official FBR Employee Card at the hospital panel desk along with documentary proof i.e. CNIC, B-form or Child Registration Certificate (CRC), in case of dependants.

Moreover, the employees of FBR and its field formations can get a Certificate of Entitlement for discounted rates of PAF Hospital Islamabad from the Welfare Section of FBR.

The employees posted in FBR Headquarters may get the Certificate of Entitlement by providing the information in prescribed format to the FBR along with documentary proofs of the dependants.

However, information pertaining to the employees posted in the field formations of FBR may be forwarded after verification through their respective field headquarters to the FBR on the prescribed format for issuance of Certificate of Entitlement.

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The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has given a new facility to the refund claimants to file their non-export related sales tax refund claims under the Expeditious Refund System (ERS) or can go to the regional tax offices for filing claims through the old ‘STARR’ system.

The FBR has conveyed the decision to the Regional Tax Offices due to limited capacity and technical issues with the Fully Automated Sales Tax e-Refund (Faster) system while dealing with the sales tax refund claims where there is no export.

The taxpayers have been permitted to use other old systems of the FBR like STARR or ERS for filing non-export related sales tax refund claims till June 30, 2021. Thus, the refund claimants who are unable to process their claims through the FASTER can now go to the regional tax offices for processing of their refund claims, FBR officials explained.

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The FBR’s instructions issued to the field formations here on Monday revealed that the registered persons claiming non-export and/or input tax carryforward based sales tax refund in terms of rule 34 of the Sales Tax Rules, 2006, are required to file the claim through submission of Form-7A with the Sales Tax Return.

And whereas, the said Form is still not enabled and registered persons claiming refund under the aforesaid rule are facing difficulties in the filing of refund claim through Form STR-7A.

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The Fully Automated Sales Tax e-Refund (Faster) system lacks the capacity to replicate data of more than one tax period or process claims where there is no export.

Now, therefore, in order to remove the difficulty in implementing the provisions of rules and to address refund issues faced by the registered persons, in the exercise of the power conferred under section 55 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, the Board is pleased to allow the filing of carry-forward based or non-export related refunds through RCPS (refund software used for uploading data) at tax offices in STARR or through Expeditious Refund System (ERS) up to June 30, 2021.

The field formations are accordingly advised to receive, process and dispose of such refund claims as per law expeditiously, FBR directive to the field offices added.

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Federal Minister for Finance, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, chaired the meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) today and reviewed the price trend of essential commodities especially wheat, sugar, and edible oil.

Finance Secretary briefed about the decline in the Consumer Price Index recorded at 8 percent in December 2020 as compared to 12.6 percent in December 2019 as a positive outcome of vigilant monitoring under NPMC on regular basis.

The NPMC noted a significant decline in food inflation as urban food inflation declined by 2.1 percent and rural declined by 3.4 percent on a month-on-month basis.

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NPMC was also informed that there is a decline in the weekly Sensitive Price Index (SPI) by 0.7 percent. Prices of 10 essential food commodities were reduced, notably tomatoes, onions, potatoes, and chicken.

The Chair emphasized increased coordination among the Federal and Provincial authorities to identify demand-supply gaps. He also accentuated immediate remedial measures to ensure an uninterrupted supply of items of daily use at affordable prices.

NPMC observed price variation in wheat flour in Sindh and Balochistan Provinces, which was reflected in Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data.

The Finance Minister directed the Chief Secretaries to regulate the smooth supply of wheat throughout the province by increasing daily release, if needed, and submit a comprehensive report in the next NPMC, accordingly.

The Chair urged the Provincial Secretaries to check the possibilities of hoarding and black marketing, especially wheat and sugar to ensure uninterrupted provision at fair prices.

Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Hammad Azhar, updated the NPMC about the measures being taken to further reduce the prices of sugar and edible oil in consultation with stakeholders.

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The Chair directed the NPMC to constitute a Committee, headed by the Minister for Industries and Production, with the Ministry of National Food Security & Research Secretary and concerned stakeholders to come up with a concerted course of action in this regard.

The Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce, Textiles, and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, also appreciated the measures taken by the concerned authorities to further reduce the prices of sugar and edible oil.

Minister for Industries and Production, Hammad Azhar, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Revenue, Dr. Waqar Masood, Provincial Chief Secretaries, Secretary Ministry of National Food Security & Research (MoNFS&R), Special Secretary Commerce, Chairman FBR, Additional Secretary Planning Development & Special Initiatives, Member CCP, Chairman TCP, MD PASSCO, MD Utility Store Corporation, Member National Accounts and senior officers of the Finance Division participated in the meeting.

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During the year 2020, the Petroleum Division (PD) aligned its strategy to streamline the matters related to the oil and gas sector, keeping in view the country’s existing and future energy needs, reported the state’s media agency.

An ease-of-doing-business plan was introduced by the division along with other radical measures to ensure a level-playing field for all competitors in the energy sector. Several rules were amended, and multiple restrictions were abolished to encourage investment in the petroleum sector.

Recounting the government achievements in the oil and gas sector, a senior official privy to the petroleum sector developments told APP that the PD started importing Euro-5 standard petrol and diesel for the first time in Pakistan’s history.

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In June-2020, Minister for Energy, Omar Ayub Khan, inaugurated a Euro-IV and V standard fuel testing laboratory in Islamabad at the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP), a body responsible to ensure the provision of quality petroleum products across the country.

During the year, the government also implemented a ‘Platts-based’ formula, under which it started determining the prices of petroleum products fortnightly instead of monthly.

Another notable measure taken during the last calendar year from the Petroleum Division was the draft of a new Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) policy, which is now in the final phase of completion.

A new project was started that would lead to a 427-kilometer pipeline project from Sheikhupura to Peshawar, aimed at ensuring a smooth supply chain of petroleum products from Karachi to Peshawar.

The pipeline had been conceived after frequent incidents of oil tankers’ overturn, especially the Ahmedpur Sharqiya tragedy in 2017, to ensure a safe, efficient, and reliable mode of supplying petroleum products across the country.

The government also started the process of upgrading existing oil refineries and establishing new facilities to achieve self-sufficiency in the crude oil refining sector. This would also translate into a lower oil import bill for Pakistan.

Significant progress had been made on Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) and North-South gas pipeline projects as well, APP reported. Physical work on the North-South gas pipeline would start in 2021.

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The Petroleum Division has also finalized a plan to establish Strategic Underground Gas Storages (SUGS), and its feasibility study is expected to be completed by May, with construction beginning in August 2021.

The Division also developed an advanced and innovative dashboard application for effective assessment of real-time E&P data information and taking timely remedial measures, in case of any decrease or delay in oil and gas production.

The boards of directors of 10 companies working under the Petroleum Division were also reconstituted.

Professional chief executives and managing directors were appointed in Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC), Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC), Pak-Arab Refinery Company (PARCO), Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to improve their efficiency.

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Punjab Education Minister, Murad Raas, has announced the schedule for reopening of schools and criteria for students’ promotion to the next classes.

Unlike the outgoing year, the education ministry will not employ an automatic promotion criteria and students will need to show progress to receive their results prior to promotion.

While addressing a press conference after attending the inter-provincial education ministers’ meeting, Raas stated that schools will reopen in a phased manner, with secondary students (9th, 10th, 11th, 12, and A/O-Levels) joining schools from the 18th of January.

He said that students of class 8th and below will join from January 25, while all universities will reopen on February 1. However, online classes may resume from the 11th of January.

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Promotion Criteria
Reflecting on the students’ promotion to the next grade, Murad Raas informed that no student will be promoted to the next grade without examination. The provincial and federal ministries have decided to employ a different method instead of promoting students automatically without any review.

He said that promotion to the next grade will be decided on the basis of 50% homework/assignments, and 50 percent of marks in exams.

Reopening Schedule

Online learning may resume on January 11
Grades 9 to 12 and A/O-Levels will start on January 18
Grades 1 to 8 will start on Jan 25
Higher education classes at universities and colleges to start from February 1
Board exams to be conducted in May and June

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The minister also noted that schools have been advised to call 50 percent of the students on alternate days, adding that this policy will be implemented till vaccines aren’t available.

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A piece of news was released earlier today, stating that a special investigation team had conducted a raid on the production plants of Ghandhara Group, Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC), Toyota Indus Motor Company (IMC), and Honda Atlas Cars.

ProPakistani reached out to the aforementioned automakers and Ghandhara Group confirmed that no such event has taken place, whereas PSMC, Toyota IMC, and Honda Atlas chose to remain silent on the matter. Our team also reached out to the MoIP and there was no confirmation or denial on the matter but they did say that none of the regional offices reported any such incident.

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A few days ago, the federal government directed the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP) to begin an investigation of automotive firms to ascertain their inability to increase production capacity.

As per the media report, some automakers had claimed to be unable to meet the market demand, which had resulted in the price increasing culture and asking for premiums or ‘own money’ in addition to a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP).

During the meeting, the Cabinet also specifically mentioned the Toyota Indus Motor Company (IMC), the Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC), and Honda Atlas Cars, saying that despite having been in the market for three to four decades, these companies had not been able to increase their production capacity to meet the rising market demand.

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The aforementioned news sparked various rumors and speculations amongst the automotive enthusiasts on public forums. The news of the raid was shared by ProPakistani via a source from within the auto industry, however, upon further investigation, it was revealed that the news has no solid basis behind it.

The regular data accumulation from the automakers is normal practice, with which each of the aforementioned automakers comply.

However, with the government gearing up for an inevitable ‘sit-down’ with the automakers, interesting developments are certainly on the horizon.

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Naymat Collateral Management Company Ltd (NCMCL), Pakistan’s first collateral management company, has joined forces with HBL for the development of the Electronic Warehouse Receipt (EWR) ecosystem in the country.

Electronic Warehouse Receipt (EWR), the first of its kind in Pakistan, is a digital instrument that gives financial institutions real-time information and access to farmers, traders, processors, and aggregators who have placed their products in an accredited warehouse, significantly reducing transaction costs and operational risks.

Through this agreement, HBL and NCMCL will work towards poverty alleviation and enhanced inclusive growth targeted towards the rural population of Pakistan. This partnership will ensure that rural communities get easy access to finance.

Kashif Umar Thanvi, Head – Rural Banking, HBL commented,

HBL is a market leader in farmer finance amongst commercial banks. The Bank has actively partnered with farmers across Pakistan for the timely provision of financial services to achieve the common objective of better crop yields and enhanced farm productivity. HBL is excited to partner with Naymat Collateral Management Company as this newly developed ecosystem will enhance financing to farmers and rural communities.”

Speaking on the occasion, Naveed Qazi – CEO, NCMCL stated,

Through this agreement, price anomalies that exist in the agricultural value chain will be eliminated and will save the small holder farmer from the distress sale of commodities.”

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A recent high-level investigation of Sindh’s Finance Department has revealed corruption involving Rs. 2.031 trillion that has been attributed to heavy misappropriation of the pension kitty by the Sindh Treasury.

A detailed review of the investigation has revealed implicating evidence against the Finance Department that will undergo another probe by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

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According to the report, a sum of Rs. 2.031 trillion had been concealed from the province’s retirement pool and the black money had been transferred from the treasury to the bank accounts of unnamed residents of Dadu and Johi Town. The beneficiaries of the laundered cash are reportedly from the ‘Dawach Family’ and had received periodic deposits in large sums between 2012 and 2017.

Initially, the NAB had issued notices to 54 potential suspects from the family, of which 30 had recorded their statements against the petition.

When deposed, most of the accused had little to no idea about the opening of bank accounts in their names. The news about the exponential amounts of cash deposited in their names had also surprised them.

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According to the probe, the misappropriated money had been transferred to 147 accounts of an unnamed bank. A little over Rs. 1 trillion had been transferred to 84 bank accounts that allegedly belong to 22 members of the Dawach family.

A 7-member investigation team has been constituted to provide actionable evidence to apprehend the guilty per the law.

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